HAVE YOU HEARD?
The limited edition 2013 Indian Chief Final Edition marks the end of the current design of bike that Polaris inherited when it bought the company in 2011. The new range will have a worldwide launch later this year.
PE: Our Polaris RV business in the UK has 70 plus dealers and three area managers. We think that we will eventually end up with the same in motorcycling. Both Victory and Indian are going to be big in UK motorcycling and worldwide, and it’s exciting that it will all begin before the end of the year. Our customer base will be existing riders, so we will take them off someone else.
How can you convince dealers to come on board when the market is still in recession and the cruiser market down 24 per cent? PE: We saw our biggest growth when the recession first kicked in during 2009. Everyone reeled in what they were doing but we didn’t. We are reaping the benefits now. We opened a new factory and bought a couple of companies. It was really aggressive forward thinking, like that displayed by some other motorcycle firms including BMW, Triumph and Ducati. So we see this as an advantage and an opportunity.
on merchandise, so we need to control the brand and make sure the logos are correct. This will be the first time Indian has had a substantial company behind it since 1954 – a big company rather than individuals or small companies funding it. You don’t get to be number one in RV in North America and Canada combined without doing things right.
Who is the Indian customer? LF: We’ve been thinking a lot about this and we were canvassing people who passed our stand at the NEC show last year. The Victory customer’s typical age range is 40 to 45. More and more are moving into touring or cruising riding. I think we can attract younger Victory customers
Victory’s new logo brings a more modern and refi ned ID that’s bolder and more in keeping with the brand’s revised marketing thrust.
because the Victory Judge, for example, is a cool looking bike and it performs. Victory is about encouraging a younger rider to try a cruiser with performance and brakes that work. It’s edgy and urban. To complement that Indian offers heritage and will
Are there hurdles to Indian Motorcycle doing well in the UK? MP: First of all we need to make sure our brands are presented correctly in dealerships. Then we have the problem of solus dealerships. In other markets we can sit alongside other manufacturers, but the solus dealer networks in the UK make this difficult. In Germany BMW actually encouraged us to talk to their dealers. It’s a different and healthier attitude in mainland Europe.
What other opportunities would an Indian Motorcycle dealer enjoy? LF: The merchandise will be huge. ‘Indian’ T-shirts have been selling for years. My wife doesn’t ride bikes and yet she loves the merchandise. Indian heritage stuff has a significant following. So we will be finding dealers with retail nous to move forward with this. We need dealers who will show responsibility for the merchandise. PE: With regard to merchandise, we know we have to rein in the rights to it. We own the rights and want dealers to make money
attract the customer who wants a marque with history and tradition. There’s a market out there for V-twin American cruisers that have these ingredients. MP: We are getting people off 1000cc sportsbikes and on to our Victory models and aim to do this with Indian.
How has Victory been doing since 1998? LF: We have sold a few hundred bikes a year over the last decade and we have 5.2 per cent market share of the cruiser sector. Victory has been niche, we know that. We have one powertrain and different model variants from that single engine. MP: In Europe we grew last year. It is only our second year in France and our third in Germany. Our share there is growing in a shrinking market. We find that where we are strong in RVs, we are strong in motorcycles too – and bikes were four per cent of our business in 2012. PE: Many of us think that all of our major opportunities lie in motorcycles.
A video of key Indian management discussing the company’s future plans can be seen at
www.britishdealernews.co.uk/indian-plans
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